Celebrating 125 years of RSABI

RSABI marks its 125th anniversary of providing outstanding emotional, practical and financial support to farming and crofting communities.

To mark the special milestone Chair David Leggat and Kirsty Macaskill, RSABI’s longest-serving member of staff who has worked for nearly 21 years with the charity, visited Newton of Collessie near Cupar to celebrate horsepower in agriculture through the years. They are pictured with two Clydesdale mares held by Ronnie Black and son Peter, an Old Grey Fergie kindly supplied by retired farm worker and vintage tractor enthusiast, Raymond Watson, and a more modern farm workhorse in the form of a quad bike, kindly supplied by the Barr family. 

The charity, which was established on April 7^th 1897, will be launching a range of initiatives during the coming 12 months as well as extending its existing services.

Now known simply as RSABI, it was founded as the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution in 1897 to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and in recognition of the deep agricultural depression at the time. Her Majesty The Queen has been patron of RSABI for her entire 70-year reign.

David Leggat, Chair of RSABI, said: “Over the years, RSABI has evolved significantly and now supports many hundreds of people of all ages across the agricultural industry each year. The support services on offer are wide-ranging and include emotional and practical support as well as financial assistance. During the months ahead we will be launching a pilot programme for young people in Scottish agriculture and we are keen to ensure that people of all ages are aware that RSABI is here for them.”

The Scottish Government are delighted to continue to support RSABI in the year of their 125^th of their anniversary and we have now committed a further sum of £50,000 for this financial year 2022/ 2023. This amounts to £515,000 of Scottish Government support overall provided over the last 5 years.

This will provide RSABI with additional resources to maintain and increase their service provision to those living and working and are in need in Scottish agriculture. A key part of the support is about working with others and to ensure plans and outcomes are coordinated and aligned with wider wellbeing ambitions to maximise wider funds and networking.

To find out more about what support is available, please visit RSABI website.